Combination wagon and sled



March 6, 1951 J, HYDE COMBINATION WAGON AND SLED Filed Nov. 5, 1949 am @N, .BYEWUWM J/Zfar/efy Patented Mar. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION WAGON AND SLED l John Hyde, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application November 5, 1949, Serial No. 125,760

(c1. 28o-1o) 3 Claims. l

This invention relates to a vehicle structure and more particularly to a childs sled and Wagon combination in which both Wheels and sled runners are present and readily interchangeable one for the other.

At the present time both Wagons alone and sleds alone are known and used depending upon the climatic conditions. There are however many areas of the country and of the world where the Weather conditions are such that a vehicle having quickly interchangeable wheels and runners would be extremely useful and desirable. Such combination vehicles as have heretofore been proposed are extremely cumbersome and involve such difculties in shifting from wheels to runners or vice versa that they have not proven successful.

This invention provides such a combination vehicle which is not at all cumbersome, is simple in structure and so simple in operation that a child can readily operate it. In general this invention comprises in combination an axle adapted to be mounted for rotation on a vehicle gear, wheels rotatably mountedion said axle, a cover xedly mounted on the axle over each wheel, runner means on the cover, cam means xed on the axle and cam retainer means adapted to be mounted on a vehicle gear to hold the axle against rotation whereby with the cam in one position the cover is held out of contact with a surface over which the vehicle is to be moved and with the cam rotated substantially 180 degrees from said one position the cover is held so that the runner is in contact With the surface over which the vehicle is to be moved.

A more complete understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wagon having the combination of this invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a partial section through the rear running gear of the wagon of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a partial elevation of a cam according to this invention.

Figure 6 is a partial side elevation of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring rst to Figure 1 there is illustrated a vehicle having a Wagon box I0 mounted on a rear support member I I and front support member I2. The front support member I2 is made up of an upper portion I3 and a lower portion I4 connected by a king bolt I5 in the usual mannel'.

A tongue structure I6 is connected to the lower portion I4 for guiding and pulling the Wagon.

An axle I1 is mounted for rotation in a passage I8 through each of the support members I I and I2. A bearing I9 may be inserted in each end of the passage I8 to prevent Wear in the passage I8 and to hold the axle stable. A Wheel 2i) is rotatably mounted on each end of the axles l1 and held in position by a washer and cutter pin or other usual means. A cover 2I surrounding the upper half of each Wheel is flxedly mounted on each end of the axles I1. Detachable apron portions 22 may be mounted on each cover 2I in iront of the corresponding wheel by bolts or other suitable means for ease of access to the wheels. A runner member 23 is mounted on each cover 2l by welding or other suitable means. An elliptical cam 24 is fixed on each axle I1 intermediate the ends in an aperture 25 in each supporting member. Cam retaining springs 26 and 21 are mounted on each supporting member in contact With the cams 24 to hold the axle against rotation.

The cam may have locking projections 28 and 29 on each side cooperating with locking openings 30 and 3I in the spring cam retaining means. The cam 24 may .also have retaining flanges 32 on either side of the cam to retain the springs 26 and 21 on the cam 24.

In using this invention, the vehicle may be operated on dry ground by using the wheels and associated structure as shown in solid lines in each of the figures. When changing the structure for use on snow it is necessary merely to grasp the runners 23 or cover 2l and turn them and their associated axle I1 through 180 degrees against the resistance of the cam retaining means 26 and 21 to the position indicated in broken lines on Figures l and 4.

The simplicity of the structure of this invention is at once apparent and its utility will be quickly recognized. Its simplicity and ease of operation make it adaptable for use on vehicles designed for children as distinguished from the complex and cumbersome inventions heretofore proposed.

While there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that it may be otherwise embodied Iwithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, an axle adapted to be mounted for rotation on a vehicle body supporting member, a wheel rotatably mounted on each end of the axle, a cover xedly mounted on the axle over each wheel, runner means on each cover, cam means fixed on the axle intermediate the ends thereof, and resilient cam retainer means adapted to be mounted on the vehicle body supporting member to hold the axle against rotation whereby with the cam in one position the cover is held substantially above the center line of the wheel With the wheel in contact with a. surface over which the vehicle is to be moved and with the cam rotated 180 degrees from said one position the coverris held substantially below 10 the center line ofthe Wheel with the runner in contact with the surface over which the vehicle is to be moved.

2. The combination as claimedzinzclam. 1; in'

which the cam means is an elliptical projection l5 on the axle and the cam retainer means are a pair of at spring members having a cam contacting curved portion for holding the cam in xed position.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the cover has .a detachable apron portion.

JOHN HYDE.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesarefof record in the le of this patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 39,076 Sweden July 7, 1915 

